Berserker's Light
by VespaRiderXephon-01
Summary: Naruto unwittingly invokes the kyuubi after a nasty attack. Quickly realizing that power is the best way to survive, he grasps onto it, becoming stronger. With a demon's might, even a fly can best a frog. In this fashion, Naruto takes on his enemies.
1. Revelations in an Alleyway

I really don't know what to say anymore. Another inspiration, another story. Just hope this doesn't come back to bite my ass off.

This story is your classical (or cliched, if you prefer) Naruto meets Kyuubi early story. More powerful Naruto, but not by as much as other stories (Not that much more powerful than the canon, really). Hopefully, it's different enough from the rest for all of you. Remember, this is AU.

(Sorry for the crappy separating line, add ruler button isn't working.)

Disclaimer:...

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**Berserker's Light**

**Chapter 1**

Revelations in an Alleyway

Naruto, aged six years old as of last month, was walking down the marketplace, trying to ignore the glares as best he could. After all, he had a purpose, and that purpose was to buy supplies, because he was due to start in the ninja academy tomorrow.

He had never really bought anything out of a store before, as the Hokage always made sure to buy everything he needed for him and have it dropped it off in his apartment.

And so Naruto walked around the marketplace, relying on the fine art of window shopping to determine where to go.

That was how Naruto found his first stop, a bookstore for he needed to buy books for history and basic chakra lessons. With shopping list and money firmly in hand, Naruto strode into the store.

Of course, it was a stroke of luck that he wasn't spotted right away and thrown out by the store owner, an aging man with grey flyaway hair (though Naruto took this as an act of kindness, or that this man didn't hate him for once). However, he it seemed that he'd condemned him to his fate when he walked up to the counter to purchase his books.

The store owner was already halfway done ringing up the boy's purchase when he noticed who the customer was. He stopped in his tracks to stare down disdainfully at the boy, who quailed under his glare.

It was like a delayed fuse, for without any prior warning, the old man exploded, leaping over the counter with a dusting mop in hand, yelling, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, DEMON!"

Naruto ran, the owner hot on his heels screaming at the top of his lungs, "THE DEMON TRIED TO STEAL FROM MY STORE! HE TRIED TO STEAL FROM MY STORE! STEAL! STEAL! STEAL!"

Of course, all of this was a downright lie, but who cared? It was Naruto he was talking about. Any excuse, no matter how dubious, was acceptable as long as it allowed him to get beaten.

Naruto ran and ran, the mob behind him growing in size as time progressed. The boy retreated into the slums of konoha, where he felt most comfortable.

Naruto was tiring, and he knew it. In a last ditch effort, he dived into an alley that by his memory would lead into a shortcut into the hot springs northward of where the chase started (that tunnel/slide that Konohamaru tried to show Naruto when he was late for the 3rd chuunin exam finals). However, he was soon disappointed by the fact that someone had built a brick wall over the shortcut, rendering it useless.

The blonde demon container was effectively trapped in the alleyway, a large mob blocking off his only path of escape.

Naruto slipped off into unconsciousness even before the villages started beating him due to fright.

------?------

Naruto found himself in what appeared to be a sewer of sewers. Dim red lighting his only guide, he waded through the dripping pipes and ankle depth stale water (or what appeared to be water).

Reaching the end, the boy discovered a large room, split in half by golden gilded bars. He was frightened not by the size of the bars, but by what was behind them. Two ominous red eyes, as big as Naruto was tall, peered out of the upper half of the cage.

**"Boy, what do you think you're doing here?" **Spoke the eyes.

Naruto shook his head sadly, "I don't know. I don't even know where 'here' is."

**"We are in your mind boy. Why are you in here when you are being beaten to death in the real world?"**

Naruto panicked at that prospect. "What! No! No! I can't die! I don't wanna die! I'm too young to die!" he yelled, running around in circles.

The eyes seemed angered, **"Stop that. You're annoying me."** Naruto stopped, **"Now then, it seems that you truly do not want to die. And, well, neither do I. So, I will give you the only thing I can…power."**

As the eyes spoke, a tendril of clear red color stretched out from the darkness of the bars towards Naruto, who was hesitant to even get near it. **"Do not be afraid. This will be your power from now on. Go on, touch it. It will not hurt you. If anything, it will help."**

The blonde touched the tendril, instantly feeling fresher, more powerful than ever before. But not a second later, an overwhelming feeling of pure instinct, the need to kill and protect, and a feeling of anger stronger than he had ever felt or experienced.

Naruto fought desperately to force the feeling down, but it was a losing battle. As the feeling bubbled up again, Naruto lost his strength, settling for restraining the feeling from actually killing, and let it take control.

Back in the real world, all the crowd of villager saw was the appearance of a blazing red aura, which took the form of a large blazing fire, completely enveloping the small boy, hiding him from view.

Stepping back in fear, the crowd saw the blonde get up, the red aura condensing around him into a bright crimson red shell, only visible as a thick outline of his figure. Naruto's eyes had turned red and his hair had grown longer (not shoulder length, but longer than it appears in the anime, so it looks exactly like the anime, but twice as big), flowing back and forth like a waves do at a beach.

Naruto had also grown nail/claws. Flexing them, he pointed them at the crowd. Growling, the child spoke in a guttural voice not all his own, "**I…have done nothing to this village, and yet you continue to persecute me, call me demon, beat me. Why? Why, I ask?**"

The villagers seemed to react to this, though not in the way one would expect. The firmed themselves, glaring squarely at the child they call 'demon' as if he was too low a being for them to have to explain themselves. Naruto ignored this and kept speaking, strangely calm for such a tense situation, "**I see, that is how you answer. Well, at any rate, I will take this abuse no more. With this newfound power of mine, I will protect myself, make myself stronger, make myself respected, even make myself feared if needed. So do not come after me anymore. If you do, I cannot guarantee your lives.**"

The villagers were shocked. Using this moment of inaction, Naruto broke a pathway through the crowd, rushing home as his power subsided. He was sure that although what that foreign feeling said, the villagers would only be held at bay for a while before they were completely back to their old ways.

Closing and locking the door to his rather shabby apartment, Naruto began to contemplate the eyes behind the bar, and the apparent power it had to offer. It was simple to deduct, even with Naruto's immature mind, that this power needed to be used, as it was most likely the most effective, if not the only way, to keep himself safe. With that in mind, the unknowing demon container resolved to at least attempt to contact the thing behind the bars again tomorrow, and hopefully see what he could develop with his newfound ability.

------Tomorrow, first day of Academy schooling------

Naruto woke up and arrived at the academy early, taking the extra time before orientation to piece out how to get back into the cage.

He figured that the first stipulation was that he had to be removed from consciousness. Not totally _unconscious_, per se, but not conscious, either. He was not sure of anything beyond that, however, he could hypothesize that being in some kind of danger would increase the likelihood of actually appearing in front of the cage rather than just being unconscious.

So, seeing that he did not know any other way of removing his conscious self, and did not want (or knew a proper way to) to knock himself unconscious, he planned to sneak into the academy library that he saw on the way to the classroom during his free time. He also planned to ignore his idea that putting himself in danger would help him reach his goal, as he didn't know how to do that, either, and didn't want to try, as he could end up getting hurt. He even doubted that he would find a way to do that, or even that the idea would work.

By this time, people had started to file into the classroom. A haughty looking pale-skinned boy with black eyes and spiky black hair styled to look like what appeared to be a duck's ass. He was followed by a large crowed of giggling girls, who all took seats surrounding him in the front, continuing to stare at him and occasionally giggle and blush.

The boy was followed by another series of boys. A hooded one with a dog on his head, a tired looking one with a topknot, a fat one who was eating potato chips, and a stoic one that held a rigid posture underneath his large coat and pitch black sunglasses.

This group all took seats next to Naruto, who happened to be sitting farthest away from the first boy who was surrounded with girls. The hooded one decided to greet him. "Hey, I'm Kiba, and these are Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji." He said, pointing to each person in turn, "What's your name?"

Naruto stared at Kiba for a while, carefully assessing if the boy was a danger. Just when Kiba looked ready to just give up, he said, "Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you."

Kiba beamed, "Ahaha! You aren't talkative, either, are you? Damn, this whole class is looking to shape up as one of the quietest classes ever! Sasuke's got his head stuck so far up his ass that he can't even open his mouth, Shino's practically mute, Shikamaru's too lazy to talk, and Chouji's always stuffing his mouth!"

None of the others really reacted, though Shino angled one eyebrow, saying, "I am not mute." In a slight monotone.

Naruto, however, did not seem to affected by Kiba's statement, opting to ask, "Who's Sasuke?"

Kiba looked at the blonde dumbfounded, "You don't know Sasuke? Wow, you're special. It's almost impossible not to know Sasuke, what with him constantly followed by his groupies over there." Kiba pointed at the boy in front, now properly identified as Sasuke.

They didn't have any more time to talk, as by then the classroom was full of people and the teacher, a man in his early twenties who also sported a topknot with tanned skin and a scaracross the bridge of his nose had walked in, calling for quiet.

And so, the class quickly became quiet, eager to receive their first lesson in becoming a ninja. The teacher introduced himself as Iruka and continued to preach the children on what they could expect as a ninja, what they would learn in the academy, and recommending training after school as well. He then went on to preach on the rules of ninja, and basic procedures one should follow in different situations.

After the basic orientation, Iruka had the students introduce themselves, starting from the back of the room and coming forward. Naruto and all of his friends introduced themselves first, and then a series of boys and girls that did not seem to stand out too much to Naruto.

Bored, Naruto's mind started to wander. He managed to catch one last name, Kisetsu Akiko, a normal looking girl with brown hair (and a little black layered under it) and sunflower yellow eyes, before he finally gave up and just devoted his time to devising a plan to get into the school library undetected.

And so the day went on, Naruto already not paying attention and only stopping to answer when called upon while the rest of the class properly finished introductions and moved on to various games and exercises to help accustom them to the building and each other as well as up their physical abilities for the rough training ahead.

Soon, school let out for the day. It was only lunchtime, but the first day was a half day, so they didn't have to come back. Naruto declined the offer for lunch by his new friends, saying that he had business to attend to, and disappeared in the direction of the library, his friends staring at him disappointedly (except Shikamaru and Shino, they didn't bother).

Naruto made it past the librarian safely, and was now sneaking through the aisles, looking for books that might help him.

_Making kunai…_

_Making shuriken… _

_Mastering ninjutsu and genjutsu…_

_Mastering weapons and taijutsu…_

_Medication for all purposes…_

_Medication for field work…_

_Meditation…_

Naruto's eyes widened. Meditation seemed perfect for what he needed! Taking the book out of the shelf, he hurried over to the self check out station (the librarian recently implemented that, thinking that he could go watch clouds if that was in place) and stamped the book. He ran into a problem, though, when he found out he had to sign his name to indicate who was borrowing the book.

Knowing that the librarian would not take kindly to his being in the library, he decided to use someone else's name. This person had to have been recently admitted, so the librarian wouldn't know the person's proper signature, and hopefully never make use of the library either. Needless to say, the blonde signed himself under the name 'Inuzuka Kiba".

The boy ended up reading the book under a tree next to a brook in a forest behind a training area in konoha. He was impatient, and so only read enough to understand the basics before diving right in. It was a wonder that he was even successful, even if it took him hours to actually properly do it.

When he did succeed, though, he was properly surprised. Although he could not properly see the bars, he could instead feel a small sectioned off portion of his self that was textured with something he had neither seen nor felt before. He did, though feel the same 'presence', for lack of a better word, he did when he was talking to the monster behind the red eyes.

So, he used what he would like to think of was a hand, and reached out to the section, trying to take hold of it and bring it closer to his heart and soul. Of course, doing so to an unknown object is not the smartest of things, but Naruto isn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, either. Surprisingly, this actually yielded results, not in the way that the boy was expecting, but results nonetheless. Naruto felt the kick of that same instinct from last time in the alley overcome part of his mind, and forming into the disembodied voice of that thing with red eyes.

**"Its nice to talk to you again, boy. I suppose you are here for something?"**

_"Yes. I'd like to use your 'power' again."_

**"Boy, that power is not for free. You'll not be misusing it anytime you want."**

_"Didn't you say that that power was mine?"_

**"Yes, yours to use during times of danger. Not yours to play around with. This power can be dangerous in inexperienced hands, and I'll not be having you do foolish things with it."**

_"Then what do I need to do?"_

**"That depends. What do you want to accomplish?"**

Naruto smiled internally, knowing exactly what he wanted, _"I want to be strong. Stronger than any in konoha, or the world. Strong enough so that no one can threaten me again. Strong enough to make the words I said that day true!"_

The monster (after all, what else would you call a being of that size?) laughed heartily, **"Well said, boy. I suppose, with that answer, I can give you a chance, but there will be a test."**

Naruto was confused, _"A test? For what?"_

**"To see how capable you are of using the power, and how responsible you are with it. Will you subject yourself to any test that comes to mind?" **

No thought was needed for the boy, he was far too determined, _"…Yes."_

The eyes closed for a second before reopening, **"Alright. For the next few years until I say so, I will give you temporary access to my chakra, allowing you to use it however you wish, although if I deem something unreasonable, I will withhold my chakra from you. When the time comes, I will judge you and see if you are responsible and worthy to use the power I have granted you. Do you accept?"**

Naruto consented immediately, and then went home to sleep.

After his first day, Naruto spent his time practicing his ability to use 'that monster's chakra, even going so far as to skip class, not pay attention in class, or even not practicing his jutsu to do it. In his free time, Naruto could be witnessed thinking up ways to practice 'the monster's chakra without being seen and expanding his own chakra reserves as well. Also, it should be noted that Naruto never passed a chance to help animals or other people as well, knowing that his responsibility (read: helpfulness in Naruto's mind) was the key to pass 'his' test.

Six years passed, with Naruto reaching the status of 'one tail' as he called it, as when he used that much power, one 'tail' of chakra seemed to sprout from behind him. He had also become really popular with younger kids, as he had helped them out many times (it was the exact opposite with the adults, who suspected that the 'demon' was up to something, and had as a result intensified their negative reactions towards him). Most notable of his supporters was one Konohamaru, who, as the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, had immediately become attached to him and his 'healthy' sense of disrespect the minute Naruto walked into his grandfather's office yelling "Oi! Old geezer, where the hell is your ass!"

The only sticking point for Naruto that he never got over, however, was the fact that one Hyuuga Hinata was abducted the day he turned seven, by the neighboring country of lightning, no less. He never did forgive himself for not only letting go of a chance to gain the monster's approval, or the fact that he had failed one of his classmates and thus, a potential friend.

Fortunately, this only served to motivate the boy more, as he started pouring even more of his time into improving his skill with his second chakra, as well as his basic jutsu (which he barely paid attention to before, but had been forced to recognize the necessity of when he was almost caught in the library one day).

And so that is how we find Naruto, six years later, waiting for his chance at the Genin exams. The boy was fidgeting…a lot. You see, even though he had been practicing his jutsu, he had only managed to master the henge and kawarimi in time for the test.

Each year, a random jutsu out of the three was picked out from a box for everyone to perform and show mastery of for the genin test. Naruto knew that he had a two in three chance of being tested on one of the jutsu he already knew, but even the possibility of being tested on the bunshin made him nervous.

That was why he was fidgeting in his seat, praying fervently that Iruka-sensei, one of the nicest people he had ever met, would also be nice (and lucky) enough to not pick the bunshin no jutsu.

He had no such luck however, as Iruka drew the small slip of paper, read it, and promptly announced, "It has been decided! All of you genin hopefuls will be tested on the Bunshin no jutsu this year!"

Naruto slammed his head into the desk _Dammit! Where the hell is my luck when I need it! Oh, I just know this day will end badly…_

Naruto waited patiently for his doom as the clock slowly ticked its time away. Time seemed to slow and distend as his stress increased. Normally, this would inconvenience a person, but to Naruto, it was a lifesaver. Hoping that his name would never be reached, but accepting it as an inevitability at the same time, that was all Naruto had left.

Finally, Uchiha Sasuke walked haughtily out of the next room, followed by the Chuunin examiner's calls for the next person, "Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"

At the sound of his name Naruto's legs seemed to turn into jelly, disabling his most vital of motor skills.

At last, though a long bout of wobbling and near-falling, Naruto made it into the examinee's room. Just before Naruto thought he would collapse of nervousness, however, he was reassured by Iruka's warming smile. "Naruto, perform a bunshin no jutsu for me, please." The chuunin said.

The blonde gulped and nodded, nervously preparing the necessary handseals and chakra necessary to perform the jutsu. The boy's chakra flared around him, wildly trying to form into the necessary shape for the boy's clone. Alas, Naruto's chakra flared too wildly, causing his concentration to break as he struggled to correct it, ending the jutsu prematurely and resulting in a dead and useless clone, lying pale on the ground.

Iruka twitched in anger and annoyance, even as Naruto did the same in shock and disbelief, "NARUTO! YOU FAIL!"

------Later, after the tests------

The blonde, now a failed genin hopeful, sat on a swing in the playground with a depressed face, wondering what he did wrong or what he did to earn what must surely be the wrath of some vengeful god.

He was driven even deeper into himself by the unkind voices of the mothers and fathers that came to see their children pass, "Hn. It looks like _he_ was the only one that didn't pass…"

"It's a good thing, too…"

"He never deserved to even take the test, anyway…"

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say…"

"…agree, especially since he ha-"

"Shut up! Remember the rules!"

Suddenly, to Naruto's surprise, the teacher's assistant, Mizuki, appeared next to him and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Come on, I want to tell you something."

Naruto faithfully followed the man to the top of a nearby roof, allowing them to view the beautiful sunset as they talked, "Naruto, I just want you to know that Iruka doesn't hate you."

For his part, the failure scoffed, "Hn, 'bet you're lying. 'Bet he does…"

Mizuki chuckled, "No, really, he doesn't hate you. It's just that, you're both orphans, you know? He kinda sees himself in you and wants you to succeed. That's probably why he's so harsh on you all the time."

Naruto raised his head, wide eyed at the revelation, "…Really?"

Mizuki nodded and smiled, "Yeah, really." (Can anyone say: O rly? Ya rly!")

Naruto grinned, "Then, then, I want to pass the genin test too! Just for him! And I'm gonna do it, too, you'll see!"

Mizuki smirked in return, "Hehe, then maybe…I should tell you about…the **second** way to pass the genin test?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that the chuunin was planning something.

Naruto was shocked, "Really! There's really a second way! You're kidding, right? There's no way there's a second way…TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!"

The plotting one chuckled _all according to plan…hehehe…_ "Okay, what you've got to do is take the scroll of seals and learn one jutsu from it, got it? Great. After you go and take it, bring it…"

------Hours later, in the middle of the night------

Naruto was running franticly around the surrounding forests of konoha, searching for the spot that Mizuki mentioned to him. He was sure that old man Hokage had found out about the scroll by now, and so was rather in a hurry to find the meeting place.

Finding it, he immediately touched down next to the old shack at the edge of the clearing. Seeing that Mizuki wasn't there yet, Naruto decided to get a head start on learning a jutsu. Turning to the first one he saw, the boy turned thief started reading, "Kage bunshin no jutsu... Augh, dammit! This stupid jutsu comes to haunt me again!"

------Iruka's apartment, same time------

Iruka was having nightmares about having failed his favorite student and the Kyuubi. Specifically, memories of the Kyuubi were surfacing along with memories of failing his student, ultimately joining and creating a new image of the Kyuubi surfacing because of him failing Naruto.

Iruka woke up sweating, frightened by his nightmare. He was just about to go back to sleep when someone knocked on the door. Apparently, this someone was the someone who woke him up 'by' knocking on the door. Iruka hurried to see who it was and hopefully hurry him away, he had a long day tomorrow.

It was Mizuki.

"Iruka, Naruto's stolen the scroll of seals! Come quick, Lord Hokage's ordered a meeting!" He said, leaping off immediately after, Iruka hot on his heels.

In front of the Hokage tower, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi, was making an appeal to the chuunin and Jounin of Konoha, "Today, approximately 1 hour ago, Uzumaki Naruto has stolen the scroll of seals."

This caused an uproar in the crowd, almost all the shinobi and kunoichi of konoha were outraged by the 'demon's' actions. "The demon has gone too far this time!"

"Yeah, he should be grateful to even be alive at this point!"

"Well then, let's take back that gift we gave him, let's kill him!"

At this point, Sarutobi could stand the crowd's talk no longer, "No! Naruto is to be caught alive! Remember that no member of konoha under the rank of chuunin knows about the existence of that scroll. I suspect foul play. For now, find and catch Naruto and retrieve the scroll, it must not be allowed into enemy hands!"

A collective "Yes, sir!" was heard before the ninja gathered before Sarutobi disappeared in a flash. They all split into different paths searching in and around Konoha, Mizuki, however, seemed know something, as he went straight for the forests around konoha, as if he knew Naruto would be there. None of the ninja caught this, however, and the Chuunin made it into the forest without any hindrance.

_Clever, Sandaime, to already suspect one of us for foul play._ Mizuki thought as he ran through the forest _No matter, no one suspects it's me and it will only take a second to rid the world of the demon brat and leave Scot free._

Mizuki was surprised though, for as he entered the clearing, he clearly saw one Umino Iruka in the clearing with the demon boy. Not stopping to think, Mizuki immediately launched a handful of shuriken at Naruto, hoping that Iruka would take his side.

The bandana wearing chuunin was disappointed, however, when Iruka pushed the boy out of harm's way, getting pinned to the old shack himself. Mizuki scoffed _damn_ he thought, _won't be getting any help from him, then. Just hope he doesn't cause too much trouble… Shit, I need to get moving, they might catch on to me soon…_

Without further ado, the white-haired chuunin turned to the demon-carrier, "Boy! Hand the scroll over to me now!"

Iruka was rather thrown off guard by the traitor chuunin's forward actions, " What! No, Naruto, don't do it! Mizuki's tricking you!"

Naruto, confused, was looking back and forth between Mizuki and Iruka. Not sure who to believe, Naruto simply turned…and ran. _Shit!_ Both chuunin thought. Mizuki immediately took off after the boy, Iruka trailing not far behind after having removed the throwing weapons from his clothing.

Mizuki found Naruto, collapsed and panting in a clearing, clearly exhausted by the training he did before he was found by them. Mizuki smirked, "Hn, this is too easy to be true…" he said as he approached the resting boy with kunai in hand, ready to kill him and take the scroll by force.

That was, until the boy poofed out of existence, showing that he was sitting over an exploding note placed on the ground, and recently activated as well. The traitor gasped as he leapt back, eager to avoid the impending explosion.

He was just a second too slow, however, as when the note exploded, he avoided the fire, but the resulting shockwave blasted him through a tree and into a second one.

Mizuki was down, but not out. As he slowly raised himself from the ground, he looked up to see Naruto, watching him impassively from a tree. "Iruka sensei told me. He told me about your trick." He said.

Even though he was found out, Mizuki still tried to find a way out of it, "Naruto, you shouldn't have listened to that guy! He's tricking you, can't you tell?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Why would he?"

Mizuki sighed, there was no going back now. He was going to leave, anyway, "Because of…the rule."

"…What rule?"

"The rule that you weren't supposed to know" Mizuki answered, "The rule that no one was supposed to tell you…that 12 years ago, the Kyuubi was not killed. Instead, the Kyuubi was sealed inside you. YOU ARE THE KYUUBI, BRAT!"

Naruto gasped, "No…NO THIS CAN'T BE! AAAAUUUGGHHHH!" He cradled his head in his hands as he sank to the floor, eyes dilating in disbelief. The enormous shock dealt to him by this news was apparent, as he soon fell into a state of blissful unconsciousness.

Mizuki smirked. His plan had worked! Now it would be simple to just walk over, slit his throat, take the scroll, and leave. However, even he noticed that his steps were gradually getting smaller and smaller until, inevitably, they stopped. At this point, Mizuki was shaking slightly from fear and wonder _What…what is this I sense, I feel? Why…why is it causing so much fear? Nothing, nothing has given me this much fear since…! No! It can't be, the Kyuubi!_

Unfortunately for him, he was correct, as they blonde boy was standing up, ominous red chakra bubbling up around him and apparently animating his body. It was as if the boy was a puppet, as like a marionette, his body was completely limp, and it was apparent that he was still unconscious, but the red chakra around him seemed to be moving for Naruto, causing the body to follow much like a shadow or afterimage.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, shocking the one chuunin present. _His eyes! That shade of red…No…it's really back!_ Mizuki thought. The chuunin couldn't move, he was too terrified of what was happening to the boy. He was transforming, by application of chakra, into something that was never again supposed to see the light of day, something that the whole world feared, even the five kage themselves. The greatest of the nine bijuu, the kyuubi.

As the transformation completed, a glowing crimson eyed Naruto stood, hunched over, with a shell of chakra around him, complete with two ears and a tail, hunched over and only mostly visible through the wisps of chakra flowing around him. **"So, it seems the boy has been robbed of his consciousness."** He spoke, and turned to Mizuki, **"By you, I presume? All right then, in return, I shall rob you of your LIFE!"** With that and a crazy happy smile, kyuubi Naruto leapt at the fear-injected chuunin.

Mizuki closed his eyes and brought his hands to his face, bracing for the impact of the hit. It never came, however, as when the kyuubi made contact with him, it ghosted out of view…and was replaced by around 500 kage bunshin of kyuubi/Naruto.

**"Hmph. Shameful"** he said, **"Cowering in fear at something smaller than you. You should fight, and die, with HONOR!"** As he spoke, he and all his clones leapt at the frightened chuunin, fist raised and chakra shroud dissipating, allowing him to pummel Mizuki without fear of killing him.

After Naruto/kyuubi was finished, he glared at the freshly beaten chuunin with his crimson red eyes, **"Hn, not even worth killing. I'll let the Hokage take care of you."** With that, he released control back to Naruto, who was just waking up.

As that happened Naruto fell due to the stress placed on his body while kyuubi was in control. Bracing himself for impact with the hard ground, he was surprised when he felt none.

Iruka sensei had rushed through the tree line and had caught Naruto before he hit the ground, "Naruto! Naruto! Are you okay! Get a hold of yourself, Naruto!" the chuunin teacher yelled in worry.

Naruto weakly turned around and opened his eyes, "I-Iruka…sensei…?"

Iruka smiled, "Yeah…it's me, Naruto. Just rest for now, I'll take you back. And when we get there, I'll have a present for you, too." Naruto smiled and blacked out soon after.

------Later, Naruto's apartment------

Naruto woke up to find Iruka sitting next to him, hands folded in his lap and holding…his goggles? Then what was on his head? Curiously, he reached up and fingered…his new…forehead protector?

It suddenly hit him, he had a new forehead protector! That meant he had passed, right? Right? Iruka was smiling, happy at Naruto's wonder and elation at having gained the status of genin, "So I see you've noticed your new forehead protector, Naruto."

Naruto was now officially hyper off of happiness, "Yeah! Yeah! So that means I'm a genin, right? Right! That's soooo awesome!"

"Yeah, you were great summoning all those kage bunshin. I only got there for the last part, barely ten seconds before they disappeared, but still, well done." Iruka said.

Naruto could only grin widely at his teacher as he talked, "Naruto, remember, genin orientation is the day after tomorrow at our old classroom in the first floor at 10:00 am, okay? Don't be late."

------two days later, Ninja academy------

Naruto was sitting excitedly in his seat, eager for Iruka to arrive and get this started. That was when Shikamaru walked by and ruined his mood, "Oi, Naruto, didn't you fail the test? You shouldn't be here. It's only for those who passed."

Now officially annoyed, Naruto answered in a clipped tone, "Don't you see the forehead protector, Shikamaru? It means I've passed."

Shikamaru sighed and quickly labeled the whole matter as 'troublesome' before stalking off somewhere more quiet. Meanwhile, across the room from the blonde (though it didn't seem that way, because his fangirls made a crowd that stretched all the way to his side of the room), Sasuke was trying to ignore all his admirers, a scowl on his face. _Shit_ Naruto thought _little bastard, getting all the attention when he doesn't deserve it. I'm just as good as he is, dammit! Has a stick up his ass too, ignoring all those people. Stupid duck-butt shithead, I should teach him a lesson._ Naruto continued to grumble about Sasuke in his mind, trying to restrain himself, but ultimately fighting a losing battle.

Just as he was about to stand and beat the crap out of Sasuke, they were both saved by the entrance of Iruka, here to announce the teams and give them a prep speech on being genin. "Alright, everyone calm down! It's time to announce your genin teams!" Iruka called. Everyone calmed down after a few minutes, and Iruka started.

Eventually, Naruto heard his name, "Uzumaki Naruto, Kisetsu Akiko, and Aburame Shino under Hatake Kakashi for Team 7. Followed by Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke under Yuuhi Kurenai for Team 8. (…) And lastly, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji under Sarutobi Asuma for team 10. We will now break for lunch for one hour. Afterwards, come back to this room for your orientation speech and then you will wait for your Jounin sensei to pick you up and hold a personal team orientation. Oh, and some personal advice, you might want to eat lunch with your teammates. To improve _teamwork_ and whatnot."

With that, Iruka left and the new genin either split up or left in their groups. Naruto approached his teammates and they left to eat together. The three genin ended up eating under a sakura tree in the field out front. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Naruto got sick of it and grabbed for conversation, "Hey, your name was Kisetsu Akiko, right? I don't think we've ever properly met before."

She nodded, "Yeah, I've never actually talked to you have I? In that case, My name is Kisetsu Akiko. I like training and oranges. I'm skilled at weapons and Suiton jutsu. My hobbies are training and shopping for new weapons. I dislike overbearing people that make me feel uncomfortable. Pleased to meet you."

Naruto smiled, "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, Ramen, and Iruka sensei. I'm not really skilled at anything, but I have lots of chakra and a secret jutsu that I'm not gonna tell you about" he winked at this, "My hobbies are training and eating ramen. I dislike people who are mean and judge other people without getting to know them. Pleased to meet you, too."

Shino, not liking being left out of his own team, took the initiative, "My name: Aburame Shino. Likes: entomology, training, and improving teamwork with my comrades. Skills: family jutsu, taijutsu. Hobbies: entomology, sparring with clan members. Dislikes: people who underestimate their opponents, people who mistreat insects."

The three spent their lunch mostly in quietness, trading a few questions or comments here and there in small conversation. Soon, it was time to return.

They came in last of all the candidates, so Iruka immediately began his speech. He reviewed on what it was to be a ninja, hinted at true strength, and warned them on the dangers of being ninja as well as what ninja would be expected to do. Namely for this matter, kill. He told them and gave them advice for dealing with their first kill, as he understood how hard it could be. Finally, after almost an hour and a half, he finished, bid the class goodbye, and left.

After he left, various Jounin sensei filed in and called out the number of their team before walking out, their genin in tow. A lot of genin left at once, leaving teams 7, 8, and 10.

Asuma and Kurenai came in next muttering about the other Jounin sensei being to eager and crowding up the hallways. They called for their teams and left, Shikamaru giving out one last 'troublesome' before slipping quietly out of the door.

It was now just team seven. The three waited for their Jounin sensei, Kakashi, for a good half hour before getting bored and going off to do their own thing. Shino did something with his bugs, Akiko took a nap, and Naruto meditated in a corner to try and improve his control over the 'mysterious' chakra. In this fashion, time passed by. Soon, it was half an hour later…

One hour…

Hour and a half…

Two hours…

Two and a half hours…

Three hours…

At this point, the whole team was officially pissed. Shino didn't show it, but behind his glasses, he was glaring stonily at the door. Akiko woke up almost half an hour ago and had a vein on her face, ready to burst. Needless to say, she was ready to punch her sensei's lights out, Jounin or not. As for Naruto, he stopped being able to concentrate about an hour back and was busy thinking up a prank or something to avenge his anguish.

It was to his own luck (as Naruto had finally thought of something and was currently moving to carry it out) that Kakashi sauntered in at that moment, caught Akiko's fist, and threw her back into her seat.

His greeting speech: "My first impression of you is: I don't like you."

------

Like it? Hate it? Have a suggestion or two? Whether it's this or anything, remember to always REVIEW!


	2. interMission

Sorry this chapter's so short. This chapter's really just an in-between for the genin exam and the wave arc. But the next one promises to be longer, as I plan to cover the whole wave arc in a single chapter. That way, the really orignal part of the story comes in on chapter 4, instead of a few changes here and there.

btw, did you like my pun in the title? I feel clever now.

**Disclaimer: ...

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Chapter 2

Inter-MISSION

Recap:

_It was to his own luck (as Naruto had finally thought of something and was currently moving to carry it out) that Kakashi sauntered in at that moment, caught Akiko's fist, and threw her back into her seat. _

_His first sentence: "My first impression of you is: I don't like you."_

End Recap:

Kakashi met with his genin team up on the roof of the academy, where he asked them to introduce themselves.

"Kisetsu Akiko. I like training, oranges, and my grandparents. I dislike overbearing people who make me feel uncomfortable. My hobbies are weapons shopping and training."

"Aburame Shino. Entomology, training, improving my teamwork. People who underestimate others, people who abuse insects. Training and sparring with clan members."

"Uzumaki Naruto. I like Ramen, training, and Iruka sensei. I hate mean people and those who judge others. I like to eat ramen, train, and do both at the same time (though I haven't been successful with that yet)."

After the students introduced themselves, Kakashi was about to start, but a smirking Naruto cut him off, "Nah, it's okay Kakashi-sensei. No one really cares about what you're like."

Kakashi was utterly dumbfounded by the boy's lack of respect. "Well…what…I…" he sighed, "whatever. Just…meet me at training ground #27 at 8:00 tomorrow morning. We have a…test…to do."

"A test?" the genin said in unison.

"Yes," Kakashi answered, "to be specific, a survival test."

"A survival test?" questioned Akiko, "but Kakashi sensei, what's this test for?"

Kakashi's eyes curved upwards in what appeared to be a wide smile, "Oh, you'll just love it. It's a test for you to become genin!"

"EHHHH?!"

Kakashi nodded enthusiastically, suddenly very energetic, "Yes, yes! Out of all you 27 who passed the first exam, only nine of you will actually become genin. The failure rate is 66 percent! See you tomorrow!" Kakashi disappeared without waiting for his genin's reactions or questions.

The three could only sit there, ashen faced and shaking, completely anxious for what was to come. Would they pass? Would they fail? What would the test be like? Were they good enough?

They split up and went home with those thoughts in mind, but while Akiko let her thoughts and fears rule her, and Shino's logical mind could only comprehend defeat, Naruto swore with a heart and mind of fire that he would emerge victorious, not in spite of that fear, but because of that fear.

------ Next Morning ------

The three (still) genin hopefuls congregated on the top of the small hill in the forest that was the center of training area 27. Still tired because they skipped breakfast, the three sat down together and began to sleep again, waiting for their sensei to arrive, who by now was already half an hour late.

With their bodies in the sun and their head in the shade, the three slept peacefully in the warmth and the dark. Of course, not two, but three hours later, at 11:30, their sensei poofed in abruptly, calling, "Yo!", at the top of his lungs, giving his genin a rather rude awakening. They were rather lenient about it this time, though, as because of his tardiness they were able to grab a good amount of sleep.

Whipping out two tiny silver bells, Kakashi attached them to his hip while explaining the rules of his test, "All of you are to try and take these bells from me. Not only will the one that fails to get a bell not get lunch, but will also fail the test and be sent back to the academy. Oh, and it would help if you attacked with the intent to kill."

Taking the resulting silence as a sign to start, Naruto eagerly rushed towards Kakashi, kunai in hand. Before he got more than a few feet, however, Kakashi was behind the blonde, holding the boy's own kunai at his head, effectively pinning him.

"Now, now" Kakashi said, "did I tell you to start?"

Naruto smirked mischievously, "A proper ninja doesn't wait for the enemy to be prepared." With that, the boy slammed his head backward, impaling himself on his own kunai, causing his blood to splatter everywhere.

Shino's eyes went wide with unhidden surprise, the eyelashes even showing over the top of his sunglasses. He could only gasp, though, as Akiko yelled out, "Naruto!"

Kakashi, too stunned himself at a boy not even fully genin yet killing himself, noticed too late, and couldn't escape as the Kage bunshin exploded. Kakashi, being closest to the center of the blast, was still the least damaged. He flew back a few feet, managing to land on his feet with only minor burns on his hands and feet, along with a few scorched sections of clothing.

The genin were not so lucky, however. Far enough away not to be burned by the explosion, they were nevertheless thrown bodily by the shockwave, hitting trees with large amounts of force. Akiko herself gained a concussion and was knocked out, and Shino came out with a broken wrist, and was too much in pain and shock at the moment to move.

Naruto came to both of them, picking them up and leading them somewhere hopefully safe. The blonde woke Akiko up, gently shaking her as he said softly, "Akiko, Akiko! Wake up, we need to finish the test!"

She finally woke up, and the first thing she did was punch the boy straight in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. "Idiot!" she said, "Do you _know_ how badly you could have hurt us?! And for a minute there I thought you killed yourself!"

Having a really short attention span, Naruto had already turned around to apologize to Shino, thinking that beating he got from Akiko was enough for her, and didn't catch her muttering, "and just when I thought I got a few friends, too…"

Having pacified his teammates, Naruto was quick on the uptake for a different topic, "So, let's get cracking!"

The other two looked at the boy in confusion. "Cracking on…what?" asked Akiko.

Naruto looked at her like she was crazy, "What else, we have to kick Kakashi sensei's truant ass!"

Akiko was still surprised that Naruto even knew of a word like that, so Shino pointed his mistake out, "Naruto, I'm pretty sure it only counts as truancy if he doesn't show up at all."

Naruto stopped, "Eh? What?" deciding to ignore it for the moment, Naruto continued, "Anyway, we have to kick his ass to become genin, right? Right? So let's go!"

"Naruto, you're forgetting that only two of us get to pass." Akiko pointed out.

Naruto was too distracted by the various plans and pranks to defeat his errant teacher to listen to her, and so cut her off before she could get any further, "Yeah, yeah. We'll burn that bridge when it comes. Besides, he's strong, so it'll be much faster if we work together, no?"

Shino and Akiko were stupefied somewhat at the boy's simplicity. It was true what he said, but due to the fact that only two of them could pass, they weren't willing to even think of it. This had them mentally slamming their heads onto the figurative coffee table.

Wordlessly, they followed the boy, daring not to say that they had never thought of it, lest the boy ridicule them for hours, giving away their position and wasting time (as he was all too prone to).

No plan was made, no preparations were done. The attack was completely spontaneous, led by Naruto himself, with Shino and Akiko flowing in and out as best they could. Kakashi was taken by surprise not only because of how fast they recovered, but also because they fought together from the beginning, although their actual teamwork needed much work. At least they were willing to give teamwork a try.

Shino was getting worried. He didn't know if his comrades knew, but they only had around ten minutes left (mostly due to how late their teacher came). He felt pressured to hurry up already and wasn't sure if he wanted his teammates feeling the same way. He had learned that that was how mistakes were made.

Deciding to wait and see how the battle progressed before troubling them, Shino once again leapt into the fray beside Naruto, unleashing a bug swarm to help defend him from the jounin's skilled strikes.

Meanwhile, Naruto was becoming frustrated. Other than the Kage bunshin, which he had not found an opportune time to use yet, he had no advanced jutsu to attack with, his taijutsu was not good enough, his weapons did not work, and he wasn't going to even get started on genjutsu. He pondered the use of his 'power'. At this point, he figured it to be the only way they could win, but he was very hesitant to use it in front of people who had a chance of accepting him.

Slipping under a horizontal knife-handed strike from Kakashi, flipping backwards while trying to kick him, Naruto felt his foot being blocked before he was thrown bodily a few feet away. He got up, noticing that not one, but both his teammates were gone. "Looks like your teammates abandoned you, Naruto." Kakashi said gravely.

Naruto didn't know what to say. He didn't want to believe what Kakashi said, but it was more than likely. His mind was now grabbing for excuses. Seizing upon both possibilities of Kakashi saying that to discourage him and that his teammates went off to plan something, Naruto pressed forward once again, trying vainly to buy time for his frie-…teammates…to come back.

------Shino and Akiko------

Akiko was trying unsuccessfully to glare Shino's brains out, her attack stopped by his (now) rather annoying sunglasses. "Why did you drag me out of there? We've left Naruto all alone!" she asked.

"As of now, there are 5 minutes left in the exam" stated Shino, "we need a plan to appropriately pool all our strengths together and take the bells in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, Naruto, lacking behind both of us in both strategic ability, patience, and the ability to be quiet, had to be left behind temporarily as the distraction."

The girl blinked stupidly, "Oh" she said in a voice that suggested that she was not all there, "So…what do we do now?"

Shino started by drawing a diagram in the dirt, "First, we must somehow get Naruto to cooperate, but pulling him aside and explaining everything would be too time consuming, so we must instead predict his natural reactions to everything we do. Then, seeing as Kakashi is too strong for the three of us to fight directly, we must instead provide him with a target tantalizing enough to distract him from safeguarding the bells. This advantage will probably not last for long, so we will need someone fast to run and get it. Naruto is completely out, as his lack of involvement in this plan puts him in danger of missing the chance provided. So, exactly how fast are you?"

Akiko nodded, understanding Shino's thought process, "Compared to you? I'm not sure. But I can dash 100 meters in around 4.3 seconds."

Shino nodded, "Then you're going to run for the bells. Regardless of how good my taijutsu is, I'm still rather slow. My 100 meter dash is 4.5 seconds. As for how to distract Kakashi-sensei, that book he reads should be incentive enough."

"How do we get that away from him though? He holds it like his lifeline." Akiko asked.

"Currently, the population in my colony is such that I can completely flood the clearing that Kakashi-sensei is now in. I will leave it to you and Naruto to handle what happens when he jumps." Shino said plainly.

"What do we do if he uses a jutsu, like a kawarimi or shunshin, or even an attack jutsu like goukakyuu?"

"Then we are lost."

The answer was extremely simple, but that did not make it more favorable in the least. They left quickly, not wanting to leave Naruto to the mercies of their Jounin sensei any more than they had already. Akiko was wearing a grim but determined face, while Shino looked the same as he always did, cold and stolid.

When they breached the clearing, the first thing they noticed was that Naruto was just about done. There were numerous small cuts, bruises and scratches all over him, and he was covered in dirt, like he had been thrown to the ground countless times. What was extraordinary was the way he seemed to instantly get better when they arrived. Even Kakashi stared in blatant surprise when he saw Naruto get up again, something he was sure the boy would be unable to do for the rest of the day, and proceed like he had never been wounded. The boy could be heard muttering something barely audible, "I _knew_ they didn't leave. Now we're gonna kick ass…"

While Kakashi was inactive, Shino took the time to instruct his kikai beetles to converge from the field, and by the time Kakashi had taken notice of his surroundings, the entire clearing was covered in a thick black carpet, and the first elements of it had begun to feed on his legs. Kakashi reacted on instinct and instantly jumped up and backwards as far as he could, slapping his legs to rid him of the bugs, a marginal portion of his chakra had already been absorbed.

He was expecting to see the other two, Naruto and Akiko, to intercept him in the air, and he was not disappointed. However, he had not counted on Shino being able to move while he commanded his insects, and so was caught off guard by the boy's uncommonly powerful backhanded strike to his…well…back. Falling forward, Kakashi parried and fended off various attacks from Naruto's wild taijutsu style, while trying to keep Akiko away from him.

He fell back down to the ground, away from the clearing and the bugs had already been extracted from his legs. He checked and saw that his bells were intact. Satisfied, he deflected Akiko's open-palm strike and dodged the flip-kick that followed afterwards. Her attacks flowed like the water she was so skilled at manipulating, but that was something disadvantageous because that just made it easier to see where she would be coming from next.

Kakashi successfully broke the girl's rhythm, punching her back into a tree, effectively taking her out from the fight for a good while, only to have his space filled by both Naruto and Shino. But before they could try to land their punches, however, the sound of a bell rang through the air.

The two would-be genin backed off, Shino expressionless and Naruto with a scowl on his face, "Tch. So close, too." Akiko came up from behind them, still clutching her stomach, glaring at Kakashi for all she was worth.

Kakashi, for his part, only smiled. "Well, it seems like you all pass!"

Naruto and Akiko had already opened their mouths to protest when their brains registered what he had said, "Huh? What?" Shino looked at the two's dumbfounded expressions and decided to simply let this play out, seeing as how he was interested in the reason of how they had passed as well.

Kakashi raised his one eyebrow in question and seemed to smirk in triumph under that mask of his, "Hm? You didn't know? Well! That makes it all the better! Hah, getting the secret answer right even without knowing it! Unheard of! You three will be the best (and the first) team I've ever taught!"

Naruto, only slightly afraid of his sensei's seemingly mindless rants, asked, "Err…sensei?" he poked Kakashi's arm, "Then, what _was_ the secret answer?"

Kakashi, slightly put out for once, answered simply, "Teamwork." He poofed away to finish ranting before the boy could speak anything else.

The newly made genin team disbanded soon after their sensei left, presuming to meet at the same time, same place for tomorrow, since Kakashi hadn't specified anything.

------Next morning------

They gathered again the next day, prepared already to wait for around three hours for their errant teacher to arrive. Soon enough, Kakashi did come, toting the same lame excuse as he did yesterday. Eagerly making way into the Hokage's tower, they were impatient for their first mission.

They were greatly disappointed to find however, that D-rank missions were no better than household chores, and their first taste of what many genin called, 'newbie hell' was to retrieve a lost cat. Tabby species, named 'Tora', and belonging to the wife of one of Fire country's Daimyou.

The next few weeks passed in much the same fashion, the team accruing two or three D-rank missions every day for meager pay. It wasn't until a month into their newly acquired status as genin that Naruto finally snapped. They were dispatched to find that damnable cat for 25th time now and the whole routine was getting seriously old. Not being able to just destroy the cat for fear of being relieved of their rank, the boy instead opted for something much more dangerous.

He would vent on the Hokage himself.

Coming upon the mission assignment room to hand over the cat, one could almost literally _see_ dark clouds hanging over his head. Slamming the door open, the blonde _tossed_ the cat into the face of the Daimyou's wife, allowing the cat to scratch his way off her and take off once again, this time leaving a souvenir in the form of countless tiny scratches on the woman's face. "OLD MAN!!!" Naruto yelled, his face eerily ponderous as he purposefully stepped straight into the Hokage's face, "What in the nine hells is up with these D-rank missions?! They pay nothing and are worth nothing, that's what! Now, we have been doing these awful, horrible, incorrigible things for a month now, and I demand a higher-ranking mission, or so god help me if you don't have a reason from providence herself I'll-" The boy was cut off by Kakashi's fist to his face, sending the boy stumbling back into line while clutching his nose.

"As you can see, Hokage-sama" Kakashi said lazily, "my genin can't take much more and I'm not sure I'll be able to control them when they snap. They're more than strong enough for at least a C-rank mission, and so I would also be thankful if you'd assign us one."

The old Hokage sighed, seeing no other choice, "All right, I've got one for you. I'd like you to meet Tazuna."

The three genin were all inwardly cheering as they turned around to bear witness to what had to be the drunkest man in all of Konoha. He swayed as he drunk from a large bottle, small globules of sake falling from the edges of his mouth onto the floor as he slurred, "Sso ttheesh are da onez thut are gunna p-p-protect mii?" he stuttered as his practically disabled mouth struggled to form the words that he was only capable of vaguely thinking of, "Tthut sshortishh kkidd lukks laess yoosfull dun a p-paraplegic."

Lucky for the drunk, Kakashi had Naruto by the scruff of the neck before he could brutally maim the man. "Come on," Kakashi said lazily, "We've got to get ready. We leave tomorrow morning." So saying, he left with Naruto in tow, the other two genin following suit soon after. As the Jounin walked out the door, he dropped the location and time with which to meet them into Tazuna's pocket, just in case he forgot in his drunken stupor.

------Next Morning------

The whole team was already waiting at the exit in their usual attire before Tazuna arrived, still extremely sleepy, as it was still only 6 in the morning. Tazuna glanced nervously between the ninja he hired, nervous not only because he doubted their abilities (especially the genin) as well as the fact that the could just as well be potential enemies judging by both his secret and the fact that the blonde one was glaring heavily at him.

The old bridge builder sighed inwardly _What did I do to get stuck with people like this?_ Without a word, he followed the genin team out of the gates of Konoha and into the unknown.

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remember the drill, read and then review, please.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, everybody! I realize I haven't updated any of my stories for months now, and I can safely blame that on both my life and the fact that this chapter is so extremely huge. Seriously, I had planned to finish the wave arc in one chapter, but it started to get ridiculous once the thing exceeded 20 pages and 10,000 words, so I ended just before the final fight.

Hopefully, I'll get back to you with chapter 4 and the rest of the wave arc (and a little bit into the beginning of the chuunin exam arc if I feel the chapter too short) soon, as it should be far shorter than this monstrosity. I hope you look forward to it!

By the way, this whole thing has forced me to recognize how extremely bad at emotional scenes I am. I almost wanted to cut out the part between Naruto and Akiko, but I'm afraid it had to be done for the story. If anyone wants to flame me for that, please consider the pains and amount of writer's block I had to overcome and not do so unless you are willing to write a better version for me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: ...

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Chapter 3

Missions, Drunks, and Bare-Chested Nukenin

Recap:

_The old bridge builder sighed inwardly _What did I do to get stuck with people like this?_ Without a word, he followed the genin team out of the gates of Konoha and into the unknown._

End Recap:

The genin group plus Tazuna were making good headway towards Wave country. Shino had taken point of his own volition, Akiko opting to stay near the client. Meanwhile, Kakashi was watching everything from a little farther back and Naruto was traipsing through the woods as if nothing could ever happen, being his usual loud self.

"Hey, hey!" the blonde shouted unnecessarily, "When are we gonna get there, huh?! This is taking too freaking long!"

Kakashi replied, not bothering to look up from his book, "Be quiet, Naruto. We'll get there eventually."

Naruto made a stink-face and said, "Why did that old guy have to hire us Konoha ninja? We're too important to be going out on something as far away as this! Don't they have any of their own ninja?!"

Akiko was really annoyed with Naruto by now, as was the rest of their group. She answered irritably, not caring that she cut Kakashi off, "Naruto, will you shut up already?! The wave doesn't have a ninja village okay? They have to rely on other countries, like ours."

Naruto shut up, fearful of the wrath of women (having witnessed it firsthand when he saw Kakashi-sensei getting beat on by a group of what should be weak village women). At this point, they passed a certain, inconspicuous little puddle located near the corner of a small bridge over a small stream. This was easily passed over in the eyes of the genin, but their sensei's sharp eyes immediately took on a rather cold effluence, calculating everything he should or should not do in battle judging by the opponent's strength of aura (chakra).

The enemy took their chance to attack as soon as their targets crossed the bridge. Rising out of their prone state while undoing the genjutsu, the two sped off as quietly as they could, targeting the Jounin sensei first.

The two successfully wrapped a deadly spiked chain around the supposed Jounin. (Supposed because by now the two mystery ninja were starting to doubt the man's rank, judging by how easily he was caught) Each one of the two pulled hard to their outside, pulping and shredding the 'Jounin' into a bloody mess before letting the chain go and fixing claws to their gauntlets.

Each of the genin reacted differently. Akiko cried out, mourning the loss of their teacher but denying it at the same time. Shino immediately sprung into action, bugs coating his arms as he ran past his two teammates to engage the enemy. Naruto, however, did the opposite. He froze up immediately. Eyes dilating in shock and fright, he found himself unable to move in the face of danger, only able to watch as his teammates took on the ninja all by themselves.

Even though they were genin, Shino and Akiko were no pushovers. Able to hold their own against the at least Chuunin level ninja for now, they attacked fearlessly and relentlessly. However, they soon found themselves falling short. While Shino made up for his lack of speed with skill, power, and timing, even his taijutsu skills were of no use next to the Chuunin's poisoned claws. Soon, he was overtaken by the sheer volume of strikes the ninja was throwing at him and was stabbed through the gut. The ninja's eyes shined in triumph as he saw his opponent go down, blood running along his claws…before the boy he had thought he had killed dispersed into a cloud of bugs, the blood along his claws becoming insects as well. Before he could react, he was engulfed by the bugs, screaming as he was completely drained of chakra, leaving the ninja a dry husk on the side of the road, barely alive as Shino stepped out of the cover of the trees.

Meanwhile, Akiko had already drawn her katars, the brown and black haired girl doing all she could to parry and dodge her assailant's strikes. She already knew that none of her jutsu would work, as the academy jutsu taught to her was at most only useful to get away, and the few (all of about three) Suiton jutsu she knew were either not effective or unable to be used due to lack of outside sources of water.

Eventually, the Chuunin became tired of wasting time with the kunoichi and simply dodged behind her to get to the frozen boy next to their target. Launching a kunai, he charged at Naruto. He ran exactly ten steps before he was knocked out by none other than Kakashi. Meanwhile, the kunai managed to cut a large slit across the back of Naruto's right hand, breaking him out of his frozen state. Akiko noticed this and walked over to him, "Are you alright, Naruto?"

The blonde's eyes widened at this. Realizing that he had frozen up somehow and now looked like a coward. Clenching his fists in frustration, he walked away to assist Kakashi, leaving the girl to look at his back in confusion.

Later, after having tied up the (now identified) mist missing Nin, Kakashi signaled for hunter Nin (away from the prying eyes of his students, of course). He sighed, looking at their client with cold eyes, "Explain."

Tazuna, who had feared this moment since he stepped out of the village, had been trying to make himself disappear while they were detaining the missing Nin, though admittedly without much success. He sighed, straightened up a bit, and talked with a voice that was far more sober than he should be. He told them about Gato, and the state of his village, along with the plight of its citizens and the crimes Gato has committed throughout his stay in the wave country.

Kakashi sighed again, and stated, "Well then, it seems that this mission has now extended beyond its original parameters, making it at the very least, a B-rank mission."

Tazuna panicked at this statement, "W-wait! You can't leave me! I need to finish the bridge, and without you, I'll die! Come on, don't you have any sympathy? I know I haven't paid the proper amount, but the village is poor! It took everyone's money already to pay for a C-rank! I promise I'll make up the deficit after the mission is done, please?"

Kakashi refused, "I'm afraid not, this mission is too much for mere genin. Look, we'll take you back to the village, explain your situation, and see what we can do. We have to get Naruto checked out at the hospital; anyway, as I'm fairly sure that kunai was poisoned. Com-"

Naruto walked past Kakashi, his eyes shadowed and unreadable. "Naruto, where are you going?" Kakashi asked, "We're quitting this mission."

"No..."

Kakashi's face nearly whiplashed. "Did you say something, Naruto?"

"I said No!!!"

The blonde's teacher's face grew stony, "Naruto, this mission is no longer a C-rank. Its parameters exceed your capabilities as well as our duty, and so, as your team leader, I am obligated to-

"We are not quitting this mission!" Naruto yelled, his head hung and his fists clenched, the rest of his body unmoving except for a slight shaking.

Kakashi again tried to reason with the boy, "Naruto, why-"

I don't want to be weak anymore!" Kakashi's eyes were wider than any of his students remembered, "I don't want to freeze up anymore! I don't want to lose or get wounded anymore! I don't want any of it anymore!!! I...will not be doing this for his sake, nor will I be doing it for the village's sake. I will be doing it for my own sake! For my own power, so I can be as strong as I want to be! So I can be as strong as I need to be! And..." Naruto quieted down, "I don't care if you come with me or not. Come on, old man, we're leaving."

Just before Tazuna could turn to follow his only hope, he was stopped by the girl, Akiko's voice, "Naruto, don't do this! The poison, it wi-"

She paused because Naruto was glaring at her with an intensity no one had ever thought possible for the boy, "Does this poison really bother you that much? Does it?! If it makes you stop, then I'll treat it right now!" With that, he took a kunai and stabbed his hand, eliciting gasps from his macabre audience as the tipped punched straight through to the other side."

Kakashi chuckled, his eyes alive with hidden mirth, "Okay, we'll go." Naruto looked happy at that, "But first, you'll need that bandaged up. You may have taken out the poison, but you still might die from blood loss with a wound that big."

Naruto's eyes widened, "WHAT?! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME, ASSHOLE!" He said, along with a whole tangent of other profanities, causing Akiko and Tazuna to chuckle warmly, while Shino remained stony.

Soon enough, Naruto was bandaged up and they were once again moving at a decent clip. Team 7 plus client followed the dirt road North out of Fire country, made their way quickly through the bottom-most corner of Lightning, and had just ventured their way in to the western part of Wave country before nightfall, where they decided to make camp in a clearing a small ways off from the main road.

They split the jobs. Naruto was to find suitable firewood, Shino was to hunt food, and the rest stayed behind to set up everyone's tents and prepare what food they already had. Soon enough they had a small, but warm campfire going and everyone pooled around it, eating in a contented manner. No one talked much, but there wasn't much to say. All four sat in companionable silence, trying not to think of what would inevitably follow in the next few days, wanting to enjoy the relative peace as much as they could.

Naruto sighed and smiled, realizing that he had finally made his first step in what would hopefully be his path to greatness, both as a ninja and as Hokage.

The next morning, they woke up early and by midday had gone far enough that they had to travel the rest of the distance by boat. They went quickly and quietly, trying not to attract the attention of the guards that were inevitably patrolling the unfinished bridge.

The team and their client made it through safely and landed on the nearest pier to the wave country's forested outer edge. Disembarking, they made sure to pay the ferryman a hefty tip both for willingly sailing through dangerous territory and to keep his mouth shut.

Walking away, the four made their way quietly through the forest, heading towards the wizened bridge-builder's house. They kept quiet as possible, even going so far as to gag Naruto, to avoid trouble.

This was not to be, however, as half an hour into the forest, they were forced to duck, a sword of near gargantuan levels passing safely over their heads. Suddenly, a voice, rough and scornful, floated into their ears, seemingly from nowhere. "Hn. It seems the great Copy Nin Kakashi has been demoted to babysitting brats."

The students replied before the sensei could, "Where are you? Show yourself!"

The voice replied, "Hn. My, my. Pompous, are we? Kakashi, you should teach your brats some respect for their betters." With that, a body materialized in to complete the voice. Literally standing on top of the sword that was thrown at them (it was stuck in a tree), stood a shirtless man in camouflage pants and a mysterious mask that looked to be made of bandages wrapped around his face.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "The A-ranked missing-nin from the mist, Zabuza…"

The man, now identified as Zabuza, let out a short, derisive laugh, "Ha! It seems you know me, Kakashi. What an honor."

Naruto was angered, who was he to talk to his sensei like that? He stepped forward with a growl, ready to rip him apart at a moment's notice, but was stopped by his sensei's hand, "Naruto, don't. His level is too far above yours." Kakashi said.

The blonde glared at his sensei for a moment before backing off, acknowledging his inability to handle an opponent of such caliber. This was a sting to his ego, which had swelled slightly ever since getting a C-rank mission.

Zabuza seemed to smirk slightly under the bandages on his face, "Kakashi," he said, "you really need to keep your brats on a tighter leash. Something could…happen to them." With that, a large and thick mist spread out from the nearby lake, concealing the missing mist Nin to all their eyes.

Kakashi's cycloptic eye widened almost comically. Without a second thought, he turned around, yelling, "Down!"

The genin reacted on instinct, dropping to the ground as fast as they could. Tazuna, who had no training, had to be pulled down by Naruto. This was just in time, too, as not a moment after, Zabuza appeared above, swinging his sword around in a wide, spiraling arc.

Before the mist Nin could correct and swing for the old bridge builder again, Kakashi stabbed him through with a kunai. Naruto was about to sigh in relief when he heard Kakashi whisper, "A water clone!" and looked down to notice that the Nin was indeed bleeding _water_. Seeing that his enemies were somewhat stunned, Zabuza went in for a kill shot.

Flipping out of the tree he was hiding in, Zabuza's was not unlike a guillotine as he brought his sword to bear upon Kakashi's unprotected back. However, when Kakashi exploded into water as well, Zabuza took it in stride. Closing his eyes and sighing in something akin to content, he muttered, "You live up to your name, Copy-nin Kakashi"

Kakashi jumped out of tree cover as well, raining shuriken down at Zabuza in an indiscriminate manner, attempting to keep the Nin in one place so he could stab him with a drawn kunai.

Zabuza obliged, waiting for the copy Nin to come, he planted his sword into the ground and swung low smoothly and onto one leg, using the other to catch Kakashi in the stomach and push him into the nearby lake.

Kakashi was caught on the wrong foot and was unable to dodge Zabuza's…well…foot. Kakashi fell into the water, but rose again with a small platoon's worth of Kage bunshin following him. Zabuza responded with dozens upon dozens of mizu bunshin.

Kakashi's bunshin were of better quality, but Zabuza had the ability to call upon much more. Inevitably, one by one, all the bunshin dispelled, leaving Kakashi…alone?

The copy Nin was in the middle of turning around when he was caught in a sphere of water, originating for where he first faced. Zabuza snorted derisively, "Hn. I thought you'd put up a better fight, copy Nin."

Seeing as how the genin were too caught up in the fight, it was understandable that they had just noticed Zabuza's nickname for their sensei. Looking at Kakashi, Akiko was the first to notice, "Look! His other eye is uncovered!"

This in turn led to Shino's eyebrows appearing above his sunglasses, "Sharingan?!"

Naruto, on the other hand, was thoroughly annoyed, feeling left out because he had no idea what a Sharingan _was_.

Akiko noticed this and decided to explain, "A Sharingan is a kekkei genkai that expresses itself in a doujutsu. This doujutsu affords the practitioner the ability to not only predict movement, but also to copy jutsu. It's strange, though, the thing about a kekkei genkai is that they are only available to a select clan with the right blood, and even then not all of them are able to develop the doujutsu. So how does Kakashi have it? The only Uchiha I know is Sasuke."

Naruto looked back at his sensei in wonderment; he was much more powerful than the blonde first thought. Maybe he should afford him some more respect in the time to come? Nah, he'll get jutsu some other way. Naruto shook the thoughts out of his head, now was not the time to be thinking those thoughts. He had to find a way to free his sensei.

Kakashi took one look at Naruto and instantly knew what the boy was about to try and do. _Futile!_ Kakashi thought, _I have to stop him before he gets killed!_ "Naruto!" Kakashi shouted through his bubble, "Just run, you can't defeat him! Back when he was young, he was called…called…the Demon of the mist!"

Naruto, who had ignored Kakashi in favor of stretching, had his attention caught immediately by the words that had dominated a large part of his life, "What?" He spoke softly. In the background, if one would look closely, one could see that even though Shino looked interested of the source of that daunting nickname, Akiko was the only one that really picked up on Naruto's sudden change of tone.

Zabuza chuckled softly, not moving from his spot, "You knew about that, Kakashi? You really flatter me, even I almost forgot. Those were good times, though." The ex-mist Nin paused a little before explaining, "Back when I was your age, the mist still had its old genin test in place, the one where classmates were pitted against each other in a battle to the death in order to graduate. Friends who had known each other for years, helped each other gain skill, now had to fight each other for the position each so prized. This tradition earned them the nickname, 'the Bloody Mist'."

"However, they were forced to change the structure of the genin exam that day so many years ago…the day I graduated. Why, you ask? Because someone had it in them to slaughter all the genin in the graduating class when he wasn't even in the academy. That bought that someone a ticket straight into the ninja ranks and that someone…was me."

Zabuza laughed aloud as he saw the reactions on each of the genin's faces. The one in the large coat seemed fine, but he could tell the boy was frozen stiff under that façade. The girl was staring in open shock, tears threatening the edge of her eyes as she could only think about the countless dead, how brutal he was, and how hopeless the situation was for them. The blonde was harder to read, however, for he was staring at the ground, shadowing his eyes.

Naruto looked up, eyes shining with determination. Stretching his arms, the boy said, "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I just realized something. I suck at giving up." Naruto's words, if a bit uncouth, bolstered his teammate's spirits, steeling them for battle. "Akiko, Shino," Naruto started again, "I also suck at planning. I'm gonna follow you two, okay?"

The two smiled, it was just like Naruto to pick up the moment and then hand it over to someone else. "Right." Both of them replied. During their chat, however, Zabuza created another wealth of water clones to protect him. Fifteen, to be exact. Having no time to actually plan something concrete, the three genin leapt into action.

Shino lifted his arms, insects flowing out of his jacket sleeves and collar. These insects in turn proceeded on towards the water clones, pressing forward inexorably while his teammates leapt into the air, attempting to hurl weapons at the original.

This ultimately failed, however, as even though Shino's kikaichuu were able to suck a full nine clones out of chakra, it seems that Zabuza is able to wield his weapon one handed, as the remaining six and he intercepted the thrown shuriken, the original deflecting whatever got past his water clones.

The clones were already moving to intercept Naruto and Akiko when they started to descend. The two Nin drew kunai in a seemingly futile attempt at a defense. Surprisingly, though, their kunai were able to withstand the Zabuza clones' giant swords. Using the lift from the upwards slash, the two flipped backwards and onto uncontested ground.

This time, Shino joined them as they dashed forward. The bug-user leapt ahead and attempted a backhanded strike at one of the clone's faces. The clone was able to block, another two appearing behind the boy and slicing into him. Shino dissolved into a cloud soon after, much to the clones' surprise, the bugs covering them and divesting them of their chakra.

The other three were being occupied by Naruto and Akiko. Currently, the two genin and their clone enemies' blades were interlocked, kunai to sword and vice versa. The third one out, noticing that Shino had killed the other clones, proceeded to target the last genin. The bug genin in turn ran to meet the clone, ducking under the sword and swinging a fist at the clone's face. He was blocked by the clone's other hand and subsequently kicked away.

Naruto saw this, "Shino!" he called out in worry. Breaking the bladelock between his clone enemy, he was quick to land a weak punch onto the clone's chest, prompting the clone to dispel. He was able to catch up to the clone and run it through with a thrown kunai before he was able to finish the blonde's teammate off. Meanwhile, however, Akiko was being pushed back, unwilling to break apart, but losing the battle of strength at the same time.

Akiko had seen what had happened to Shino and was about to leap for him and deal with the consequences later when she saw Naruto running.

As she watched her blonde teammate destroy another one of Zabuza's clones, she realized painfully that she was the only one to still have an opponent. Suddenly determined, she forced herself to jump away and start sealing. Of course, the clone tried to stop her, but she started running towards the lake and then _on top of it._

Naruto and Shino could only watch in wonderment, seeing as how they themselves couldn't do that. Naruto silently vowed to make Akiko teach him that as he watched her finish sealing, and unleash her jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizu no Hana!" she cried out, making a stomping action into the water. As she did this, six rings of water burst upwards in quick succession, forming the image of a rose with many petals to all who looked from the sky (think of one of those fountains that shoot water in a pattern).

Of course, the clone was helplessly trapped inside the jutsu and quickly dispelled. This seemed like overkill to her two teammates until they turned towards where their sensei was trapped, already starting a plan to free him, only to see him…already freed?

It dawned on them, that jutsu she did had a large area of effect, something they hadn't paid attention to in lieu of its apparent power. That area of effect in turn was large enough to reach the real Zabuza and force him away, and so she hadn't just used the jutsu to show off.

Akiko was quick in rejoining her teammates, realizing that their battle was levels above their own and that it would be best to just get out of the way. Shino and Naruto had already retreated to a safe distance, and congratulated her when she got back. Smiling and showing them a victory sign, they turned to watch their teacher fight.

Kakashi, having been freed from his cage, wasted no time in stopping Zabuza's counterattack against his student. Dodging inwards from his strike, he attempted to roll on his back and sweep his foot across Zabuza's midsection.

Zabuza parried with his other limb and switched targets over to the Jounin. In the meanwhile, Kakashi was flipping backwards, sealing for a, "Katon: Housenka no jutsu!" The small fireballs were easily dodged, and Kakashi soon found him unsuccessfully trying to block the real Zabuza's sword with his kunai.

Kakashi was able to shift, and eventually throw, Zabuza's sword to one side using his kunai, which he lost in the process. While Zabuza was compensating for the sudden lack of resistance, the Jounin wasted no time in laying a haymaker into the missing-nin's face.

Kakashi launched a Goukakyuu while Zabuza was still sprawled over the water. The fire's contact with the lake caused a quick steam to rise, which was easily dispelled by Kakashi, only to find Zabuza a few meters away, sealing.

So far, since Kakashi had been freed, Zabuza had no time to cast any of his ninjutsu. Now that he did, however, he swore he was seeing things. It started after Kakashi had dispelled the slight haze and had spotted him sealing. They had locked eyes, and now Zabuza was seeing images, doubles of him over Kakashi's shoulder suggesting to him the next move he should make, the next jutsu to release.

Zabuza smirked as he held the last hand seal, "Hn. It's your time to-"

"Die, Kakashi!" the Jounin finished. Zabuza's eyes widened as he noticed that his opponent was holding the exact same jutsu as he did! At once, both parties called out, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!"

Two dragons of water erupted out of the lake from behind their respective summoners. Seeing each other, the two immediately started fighting, spilling torrential amounts of liquid down upon the two Nin fighting below.

As always, Zabuza was trying, and succeeding, to overpower the comparatively smaller Kakashi. So, in response to such brute force, the copy nin simply released the chakra from under his feet, shooting into the water due to the force being applied by his foe.

Kakashi soon realized this was a mistake, as he had greatly miscalculated the amount of force the missing nin was pushing on to him, and had passed into the water so fast that the water hit him hard and rushed up through the mask and into the mouth and nose, dizzying him and forcing water into his lungs.

Luckily, Zabuza was just as surprised at the sudden change of tactic as Kakashi hoped he would be, and nearly fell into the water himself. This allowed Kakashi to right himself and regain his senses.

At this point, Zabuza was already working to scan underneath the surface for his opponent. Thusly, Kakashi found it prudent to withdraw from the cover of the water, directly under his enemy.

Kakashi slashed at the sword wielder's feet as he rose, hoping to take advantage of the situation and render his enemy useless. Zabuza dodged easily enough, and retaliated with a quick swing down towards Kakashi's neck. Zabuza was smirking now, "Not bad, Copy-"

"Nin Kakashi." Kakashi finished for him. Zabuza growled, and leapt away, sealing.

"I've enjoyed playing with you, Kakashi, but I'm afraid-" Zabuza started.

"It's time to die." Once again, Kakashi finished the sentence. However, Zabuza wasn't there to hear it, as he was currently preoccupied with the copy, no, _shadow_ of him behind Kakashi's back. It kept performing the Suiton: Daibakuha, and seemed to want Zabuza to follow his example.

Finishing his seals, Zabuza gathered his chakra, "Hn. Your eye is-"

"Getting annoying, bastard! Suiton: Daibakuha!" This time, Zabuza could only gape in surprise as he was swept away violently, crashing into one of the many trees on the shoreline.

The missing-nin coughed, smirking in what seemed like desperation, "Not bad, Copy nin. Tell me, can that eye of yours look into the future?"

Kakashi approached Zabuza, nodding, "Ah, and the future brings you death." If anything, Zabuza's smirk only got wider as he was struck in the neck twice by needles. As the Nin slumped towards the ground, dead, he was caught by a boy, no older than Naruto, leap into the clearing and catch him.

The boy bowed towards Kakashi, "I must thank you for weakening him. I've been hunting him for weeks and I'm sure you'll forgive me for stealing your kill."

Kakashi nodded stiffly, and the Hunter-nin continued, "Well then, I hope you'll understand that I'm in a hurry. I need to go and dispose of his body now." Not even waiting for a reply, the boy poofed away, taking the body with him.

The genin, who had been watching from the trees ever since their sensei was freed, descended towards the ground and ran to catch up to their teacher, client in tow. "Who was that, sensei? Do you know him?"

"No, Naruto" Kakashi answered, "He was a hunter-nin from the mist. A specialist ninja whose sole job is to hunt down missing Nin that defected from their home village."

"Really?" Naruto asked, "He didn't look much older than I am. How is that possible?"

Kakashi reached over and ruffled the blonde's head a little, "Naruto, there are some who are younger than me, but stronger as well. The world is strange that way."

Naruto nodded sagely, his mind still struggling to fully comprehend his teacher's statement. He was interrupted in his contemplation, however, by Kakashi flopping straight over onto the ground.

"Sensei!" the three genin cried as they ran towards him.

------

Kakashi groaned as he woke up. His limbs felt as stiff as fire country wood and his Sharingan eye painfully throbbed in time with his splitting headache. He was sorely tempted to just leave his normal eye closed and attempt to slip back into oblivion unnoticed.

He was prompted to get up only by a recent thought that had occurred to him. Even so, he arose slowly and only with a small inkling of the urgency within his mind. Looking around almost placidly, he noticed his genin charges waiting for him in a dutiful line.

Wanting confirmation first, Kakashi voiced his question, "What happened?"

Shino answered promptly and succinctly, "You passed out promptly after the battle. This was presumably due to chakra exhaustion, as we could not find any significant wounds upon your person. We covered your eye and took you back to our client's house, where you have been resting for nearly a day now."

Kakashi nodded, "Well then, it seems I was right."

"What do you mean sensei?" asked Akiko.

"Think. What do hunter-nin usually do with their kills?" Kakashi was coaching his genin to think.

"That's easy. They get rid of the body- Oooohhh…"

Shino gave a small grunt of surprise the same time a look of comprehension dawned on Akiko's face. Naruto was still confused though, and so Kakashi decided to explain, "Hunter Nin usually dispose of bodies directly on the kill sight, and if he or she needed proof of the kill, he or she could easily just take off the head."

Naruto was obviously able to put two and two together, as without further ado, he jumped straight upwards, yelling his feelings of being cheated.

"Furthermore, the fact that the hunter Nin took him away suggests that they are partners. We have at most a week to get ready before Zabuza is healed and they come after us again." Kakashi observed.

This quieted the blonde down, his face more solemn than most were used to in order to show he understood the gravity of the situation. Kakashi sighed, "At any rate, we should get training now and make the most of our time." With that, the Jounin attempted to stand, but had to be helped by his genin.

------

The four convened in a small clearing in a forest a ways south of their client's house. "Okay. Have any of you ever received chakra control training before?" Kakashi started.

Akiko was the only one that raised her hand, "I received water walking training a few years ago by my late adoptive grandparents."

Kakashi nodded, "Then you've also done tree climbing, right?"

Akiko was confused, "Can't everyone climb trees?"

The Jounin sighed, "That's not what I meant, Akiko. Okay. I'll just assume that your grandparents have skipped over this and show you." Forming a single hand seal, Kakashi gathered chakra into his feet, making a small wave of dust form around it. He then proceeded to walk slowly up a tree, stopping at one of the lowest branches, "This is what I meant. Your assignment is to reach the top of any tree you chose. Use these kunai to mark your progress." Throwing kunai at his genin's feet, Kakashi walked back down and disappeared in the direction of their client's house.

Naruto was annoyed. This wasn't training! Where were the jutsu, the cool fighting techniques? Why the hell did he have to be stuck here doing this when he could be out doing some real training?! With these thoughts fresh in his mind, he voiced his thoughts.

Shino didn't say anything, but Akiko just scoffed, "You're an idiot, Naruto, you know that?" she said, "Chakra control is a vital aspect to every ninja who is Nin or genjutsu oriented. Having chakra control allows us to mediate the chakra we put out in jutsu and make sure that we put in just the right amount, so that we don't waste any, but the jutsu still works. Having good chakra control can theoretically allow you to master any and all forms of jutsu. So just do what sensei said and shut up! He knows better than you."

Naruto grumbled, but got to work anyway, following the examples of Shino and Akiko. Unexpectedly, Shino had incredibly good chakra control, making it a full halfway up the tree on his first try (this was probably due to his bugs, which severely restrict the amount of chakra he has to control, anyway). Akiko, however, was too used to walking on water and constant chakra flow, and ended up blasting herself off the tree a bit more than a quarter of the way up. Naruto however, was the worst. He had blasted a hole through the tree only three steps up.

"Owwww…what the hell was that?" Naruto said, cradling his head with his hands as he looked up at the smoking hole left in the tree, "Too much chakra? Dammit, this is harder than I thought it would be…" Now, contrary to popular belief, Naruto was in fact NOT to proud to beg, and so decided he'd have a much easier time of it if he just asked for help. He figured Shino would be no help, as his bugs made the chakra control come naturally anyway and he probably wouldn't be able to explain it (not to mention the fact that the boy rarely talks at all), and so deliberated that Akiko would have to do.

Akiko was just descending from her most recent run up the tree, having made it more than half of the way up. She was frustrated, seeing that Shino had already made it all the way up the tree. She was the supposed to be the only one trained in chakra control exercises! Why was she found lacking next to Shino? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Naruto until he was right on top of her, "Yo!"

Akiko almost hit Naruto's head with hers as she jumped reflexively, "Wha-?! Oh, it's just you, Naruto. What do you want?"

Meanwhile, Naruto, who was sent stumbling slightly by the near-miss, caught himself, "Geez, Akiko, watch where you're going. You know you head is hard, right?" Akiko ignored him, so Naruto decided to get straight to the point, "I need your help."

This caught the girl's attention. Turning to the blonde, she raised an eyebrow, "Hm?"

Naruto took this as a chance to explain himself, "Well…you're pretty good at this chakra control thing…and I don't know what the hell I'm doing…and" at this point, Naruto's request was lost into a jumble of quiet grumbling before getting louder again, "Anyway, I was wondering if…Icouldgetsometutoringfromyou!"

Akiko smirked; Naruto's uncomfortable voice was like music to her ears, stroking her ego considerably. Unknown to most other people, women, specifically kunoichi, from konoha had an almost overwhelming penchant for meddling, especially when love was involved. It was almost like they had to mess with people's lives and tell them what to do. There has been no explanation for this phenomenon, but some speculate that it was the peaceful atmosphere with an emphasis on love and friendship has led them to believe that they must interfere to spread the love. At any rate, the point was that Akiko took the offer without a second thought.

------

Later, during the night, the genin team plus teacher were gathering for dinner. Akiko had finally made it to the top along with Shino and so both were eating heartily, as both were scheduled to guard the bridge tomorrow along with Kakashi. Naruto, however, was nowhere to be found. Akiko was getting worried and wanted to investigate, but Kakashi had confidence, and told her to simply get rest for tomorrow. Shino said nothing, but he always does that. Akiko could see that he knew something she didn't, but she didn't do anything about it. He would tell when the time comes, Shino was like that.

True to Kakashi's words. Naruto forewent dinner in favor of training, and was still struggling to reach the top of the tree even late into the night. It was around three in the morning when Naruto finally wore himself out, having just reached the halfway point. He fell almost six full meters to the ground, ensuring that even if he wasn't already unconscious from exhaustion, he would be from head trauma.

The rest of the night was spent quietly in the Konoha force, but not all was well for the mist Nin, as at that moment, Gato was about to make his presence known. Haku had successfully managed to wake Zabuza from his faux death, and had him resting in bed, trying to bring his strength back to full after the beating he received. He was still bruised and sore, and the limited rigor mortis brought on by the faux death was not helping in the least.

That was the scene that Gato walked in on when he barged haughtily in through the closed door, Haku stood up from his stool and stepped aside, a gesture as much to better watch the proceedings as well as to show deference, "Hn. Weaklings, all of you!" he exclaimed, "Not even able to beat down a bunch of lowly genin, I don't even know why I pay you! Heh, maybe I should…'terminate' our contract right now…" With that, he reached over slowly, obviously intending to wring Zabuza's neck. Just before he could, however, his wrist was brought into an iron grip by none other than Haku, causing the two hired samurai on either side of the magnate boss to get into ready stances

"You…will not touch Zabuza-sama!" Haku whispered ferociously. The boy applied more pressure onto Gato's wrist, apparently breaking it as a weak snap was heard, causing Gato to flinch in pain and step back.

"I-I'll remember this!" the rather diminutive man exclaimed as he led his samurai out the door, in a hurry to get his hand treated.

Haku sat back replacing the wet towel on the top of Zabuza's head, "I'm sorry I let him get so close Zabuza-sama. Should we…enact the plan now?"

"No, we must wait" Zabuza muttered, "I…want to fight that Kakashi again first. Haku, you have a plan by now, don't you?"

"Yes. I will tell you after you get well. For now, please rest and focus on getting better. I will be back with more herbs tomorrow morning." Haku said. Standing up, the boy made sure his master was comfortable before exiting the room to head for his own. After all, even weapons needed sleep.

------

Haku was out early in the morning in his usual attire, picking herbs. Gradually getting deeper into the forest he was mining for herbs, he didn't notice Naruto until he was only a couple yards away. Haku immediately recognized the boy from the battle and upon reflex was already reaching out to strangle the boy.

Deciding not to, however, Haku ended up shaking Naruto awake instead. Waking up, Naruto immediately registered the rather pretty girl kneeling next to him. Blushing slightly, the blonde sat up slowly, asking, "Who are you?"

Haku smiled gently, "I'm Haku and I'm out here collecting herbs for a dear friend. Are you a ninja?"

At this point, Haku resumed his hunt for herbs, but distinctly noticed that the blonde boy was helping him. "I'm Naruto," he answered, "a genin from Konoha and soon to be Hokage!"

Haku nodded in understanding, "I see. That's a nice dream. Were you out training, then?"

Naruto nodded, grinning, "Yeah! I need to be strong if I want to become Hokage!"

Haku chuckled (though it sounded more like a giggle to Naruto), "I see. You should be more careful, though. If you keep doing this, you'll get a cold, you know."

Naruto laughed as well, "Haha, yeah…"

Haku picked up a few more herbs before sitting down to gaze at the clear morning sky, "Say, Naruto…do you have any precious people?"

The blonde could only look confused. "Precious people?" Thinking back towards Iruka, the Hokage, and recently, his teammates, Naruto answered, "I guess so…why?"

"Because" Haku answered, "It's when you have precious people to protect that you truly become strong."

The two picked up the rest of the herbs in silence. When they finished, Haku stood up, "Well, that should be enough. I should really be going now; my friend is probably waiting for me. I believe you will become truly strong, Naruto." Haku started to walk off, but stopped at the edge of the clearing before turning back, "Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy." Haku smiled at the shocked face of Naruto before bounding back towards the base, leaving a dumbfounded blonde.

Naruto sat there, jaws wide open, "No way…but he was so cute…" he muttered. Hearing his stomach growling, however, he soon forgot all about Haku, "Oh well, I guess I should go back for breakfast. I'm really hungry." With that, Naruto ran off towards Tazuna's house.

------

Kakashi was rather surprised to see Naruto at the table when he stepped downstairs. His surprise, however, was soon put to rest as he noticed Akiko there, stripping him down thoroughly for not coming back last night.

Kakashi sat down calmly, at once forcing Akiko to sit down by applying pressure to her shoulder. Naruto briefly looked at Kakashi in an appreciative and thankful manner before sitting down himself.

Akiko would have continued scolding Naruto even after she was forced down by Kakashi, but she thankfully got the hint and started to eat quietly. Shino joined them a little while later, his hair disheveled as the sleepy boy had not yet the presence of mind to comb it yet.

After breakfast was finished, the team split into its own ways. It had come up earlier in the day that Tsunami needed more groceries for food, and so instead of strengthening the guard, Akiko accompanied Tsunami to the market while Naruto went to finish training and Shino accompanied Kakashi to the bridge with Tazuna.

The day was rather uneventful overall, as Naruto made slow progress up the tree, and Kakashi passed time with Shino by playing word games. Kakashi won.

Naruto failed to show up for dinner again, but it was surprising that Akiko, who was usually very conscious of nutrition, and health, returned with a rather haunted look and beelined it up to her room and didn't come back down for dinner.

Obviously concerned, Tsunami delayed dinner and shooed Kakashi up the stairs to see what was wrong.

------

Meanwhile, Naruto, panting from exhaustion and hunger (he had not broken for lunch), took one last pass up the tree. His eyes widened in glee as the top of the tree came closer. The blonde cheered as he nearly raced straight off the top of the tree. Balancing himself on the tip of the highest branch, Naruto took a few moments to savor the victory as well as the view. He had finally made it! He had climbed up the highest tree in the clearing under his own power!

Naruto's stomach complained loudly at the same time that he yawned, giving him a double incentive to hightail it back to the house and rest after grabbing a few bites.

------

Kakashi slipped into the room quietly, observing Akiko carefully. She sat on her futon facing the window, but was staring at the wall with wide, somewhat hollow eyes. She looked like she wanted to cry but couldn't bring herself to do it at the same time.

Kakashi paused; all he could think in his mind was how bad he was at this. He didn't even do this with his own teammates (dead now, but that's beside the point)! He was just about ready to call this hopeless and slip back out when Akiko turned around, saying, "K-Kakashi-sensei?"

The Jounin uttered a small curse in his mind as gave up on being able to get away. Sighing outwardly, Kakashi replied, "Yes. Dinner's ready, so why don't you come down and eat."

This seemed to depress Akiko even more, as tears were starting to show up around the rims of her bloodshot eyes, "I…I-I'm not really hungry."

Kakashi closed his eye, half in sympathy, and half in resignation, "I see. I don't want to keep everyone waiting, so I'll be going down now. Please feel free to come if you want." He knew that this was incredibly cold, but he also knew that he couldn't deal with this, at least not right now. Kakashi figured he'd try again after dinner; perhaps she'd be a little easier to talk to after he brings up some food. The Jounin bowed his head slightly as he stepped out the door.

Down at the dinner table, the genin (and Tsunami, who had taken an interest in her well being as of late) looked on with disappointment as they noticed Kakashi had come down alone. "She's not coming?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded his head and took his seat at the table. Naruto's face contorted slightly with anger as he thought _Stupid Kakashi-sensei, probably didn't even try very hard. Alright, that only means I'll have to cheer her up after dinner!_

That day, the Team 7 noticed a particular presence at the dinner table, that presence, as explained by Tsunami, was Inari, her son. The boy seemed to be permanently depressed, wearing a frown that seemed to radiate a cloud of depression. Nevertheless, everyone else did their best to ignore this and eat their dinner in peace.

It was during a conversation about when they would finally be fighting Gato (conducted rather noisily by Naruto) that Inari finally spoke. "Why…" the boy whispered quietly.

Naruto, having been the only one sitting next to Inari, was also the only one who heard him, "Hm? Why what?"

When Inari didn't speak for a few seconds, Naruto was just about to turn back around and dismiss it. However, Inari spoke up before the blonde could turn completely, "Why do you fight?! Why fight when you already know you stand no chance!? You know what I'm saying is true, so why don't you just stop playing the hero already and GO HOME!?"

There was no sound in the room, and the tension in the air was so thick that one could cut through it with a butter knife. The leaf team (minus Naruto and Akiko) did not really concern themselves with it, seeing as how to them it was just a little kid mouthing off, and they expected Naruto to do the same, but Tazuna and Tsunami were worried about what they would do, as to them, Inari had just insulted them, even if it was true (in his point of view).

Naruto, eyes shadowed, spoke quietly, "And? How do you know how useless this endeavor is?"

Inari shouted back, "And you think you can win? You think you can be a hero? Hah! Heroes don't exist! And Gato's far too strong for all of you, even combined!"

Then came Naruto's rebuttal, "And you would?! All you are is a crying, pitiful child, too scared to raise even your smallest finger in the attempt to change your fate! YOU WON'T KNOW ANYTHING UNTIL YOU TRY, IDIOT!"

"I DID TRY! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE A FATHER!"

Naruto froze, and anybody could see that Inari had touched a nerve, "Fine then," he said, "I'll defeat Gato and prove to you that heroes exist!" Grinning in an almost maniacal fashion, Naruto then stated rather loudly that he was no longer hungry and left upstairs."

Meanwhile, Inari ran outside with tears in his eyes, and Kakashi could only sigh and think that Naruto went too far, and maybe he should have stopped them while they were ahead. Standing up, the Jounin sensei also left, following Inari out the door and an only half dedicated search to cheer the young boy up.

------

Meanwhile, Naruto remembered that Akiko was still feeling down, and so slipped himself into her room instead of just heading to his and resting up. "Hey," Naruto said in greeting, "we missed you at dinner."

Akiko turned to look at Naruto with a sort of sad smile, "I…didn't feel like eating. Sorry."

"Nah, s'okay." Naruto said, taking a seat next to the bed. "So," he continued once he was settled in, "What happened?"

Akiko looked surprised for a second, "W-What? What do you mean?"

"Today." Naruto answered, "What happened today. What happened to make you skip dinner and look like **that**." Naruto emphasized the 'that' while pointing at Akiko.

The kunoichi, who honestly looked terrible, with red eyes, wrinkled clothing, and incredibly disheveled hair, tried to play dumb, saying, "Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me," said Naruto, annoyed, "I know you saw, experienced, something today. Something that scared you, made you not want to go outside, and I want to help."

Akiko started to shift around, looking kind of guilty, "Well, it didn't scare me, per se…"

Naruto fixed her with a hard look, "Nevertheless, something happened."

Akiko looked away, uncomfortable, "You…You wouldn't understand."

"I've experienced many things in my life. Too many, one might say. Try me."

"I-I," the brown haired girl started, "It was horrible!" She sobbed, "We-We went to town to get supplies, you know? And it was just horrible! Feces mixed with sewage in the streets…no trash, but only because there was none to throw away…even the grocery stores had nothing! Only the smallest bits of rotten carrots and other vegetables…And the people! Nobody lived in houses anymore; they didn't have enough money to pay the landlords! All of them…they were living in the middle of the streets…amongst the sewage and everything. They didn't even have tents…only a small blanket to protect them from the germs..."

Naruto had already wrapped her up in his arms, the girl was sobbing uncontrollably onto his shoulder, "Shhh…it's okay. We'll fix all that. We'll fix all that…"

Akiko ignored what Naruto was saying in favor of continuing, "And then, as if that wasn't bad enough…this kid, I can't believe I was going to hit her for touching me…She…she…All she did was ask me for some food…"

"And you gave her some, didn't you? What's there to be ashamed of?" Naruto asked.

"Y-Yes, but…" She paused

"Yes? But? Come on now, let it all out. I'm here for you…" Naruto whispered reassuring words into her ear.

Akiko had already started to calm, but now she burst into a fresh flood of tears, "That wasn't the worst of it! I-I looked at the whole thing, I saw the people, and I felt nothing! A-All I could think was…was that I knew that it was wrong, but at the same time, my head was filled with thoughts about how they stink! How pathetic they were to just give up like that! I-I'm a monster, aren't I? I can't think that and still be human, can I?"

Naruto sighed. This was getting far more difficult than he thought it would be, "No, you are not a monster. Ninjas see many things within their career, Most of us won't…" Naruto drifted off as he searched for the right word, "survive, if we don't harden ourselves towards the horrors of the world. You know that, that was one of the first things we were taught at the academy."

Akiko did not have the presence of mind to be surprised that Naruto actually listened to something Iruka-sensei said back at the academy, as she was busy listening to his speech, with his arms around her, as he tried to comfort her with his words.

"The fact that your heart was not crying out with sympathy doesn't mean that you've become inhuman. It only tells me that you've become an accomplished ninja, able to harden and protect yourself from the horrors that you'll see." Akiko nodded, reassured by Naruto's words, though not completely. She had stopped crying some time before, though her eyes were still tinged reddish pink from the tears.

Akiko moved to shoo Naruto out of her room with a small smile, seeing as how she was going to change for bed. At the door, Naruto turned around and grabbed Akiko's shoulders before she could close the door. Looking into her eyes, Naruto spoke firmly, "Remember, Akiko. You are not inhuman. You are just as normal as Kakashi, Shino, and everyone else, if not more so."

Akiko nodded and muttered a small thanks before closing the door behind the blonde. She quickly hurried to get ready for bed, trying not to give herself time to think again.

Meanwhile, Naruto paused for a moment outside of Akiko's door, looking at it with a sad smile. "If anything, I'm the monster." he spoke softly and quietly before turning and heading for his own room that he shared with Shino.

------

Kakashi found Inari crying to himself on the roof while looking out at the sea. Kakashi took a seat next to him, and neither spoke for a few minutes. Kakashi was the one to break that silence, "I heard about what happened to your father."

Inari still had tears running down his face, but he managed to say, "Then you know why heroes don't exist."

Kakashi sighed inaudibly. Closing his eyes, he said, "Inari, what do you think a hero is?"

Needless to say Inari was skeptical, but he replied anyway, "Heroes are people who always stand up for friends and family, someone who always represents justice and always defeats evil. However, that doesn't matter because heroes don't exist."

"You're being a bit strict, don't you think?" Kakashi said, "Nobody is unbeatable. Heroes lose sometimes, as well."

Inari just grunted, "Is that all you came here for? To lecture me on the definition of a hero?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. You looked pretty mad at my student back there."

Inari grunted once more, "That's because he was being a bastard. He knows nothing of what I've gone through."

Kakashi's face turned dead serious for a moment, "He's been through more than you know."

Inari, surprised, managed to stutter out a small "Huh?"

The Jounin stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of his clothing, "Nothing. By the way, there's something I should tell you."

"What?"

"In his entire life, Naruto has never broken even a single promise, no matter how insignificant." _Not that he's had anyone to make promises to _He thought secretly. With that, Kakashi jumped off the roof and disappeared, leaving Inari to think over what he said.

------

The next morning, Kakashi, Shino, and a recovered Akiko, suited up to escort Tazuna to the bridge. They had left Naruto in bed, as needed to sleep in after undergoing such intense training.

Naruto's extra rest was not to be, however, as not ten minutes after the ninja left with their charge; a scream from downstairs woke him up. Dressing hurriedly, he made it downstairs just in time to see two rough looking samurai man-handling Tsunami. One was without a shirt and had his hair tied in messy ponytails. The other had a large blue jacket and a hat that hid grayish white hair. Both had shadows around their eyes, indicating that neither had slept particularly well in the past days.

"Shut up and stop struggling!" the samurai with no shirt yelled, "You're coming with us, missy, whether you like it or not. However, if you make it hard for us, all it means is that your son will die as well."

That statement shut the woman up quickly. It also directed Naruto's attention to the corner of the room, where Inari was shivering in fear. Growling in anger, Naruto quickly appeared behind the two samurai and promptly put a kunai through the back of the shirtless one's neck. "Stay away from them." He growled angrily.

The other one quickly drew his sword, surprised and angered by the sudden death of his comrade, "Go away kid, or else I'll make you. We're under Gato's orders, so anything you do will result in 'consequences', you get that?!"

Naruto only smirked, small fangs grown within the space of a couple of seconds visible only to the samurai, "Hn. Like I fear anything that your soon to be dead boss will inflict upon me." With a burst of red chakra, Naruto sped forward and the samurai's neck was clawed out before anyone could blink.

Inari stepped forward meekly, his eyes filled with awe, "Y-you saved us…"

"Hn" Naruto replied, "Heroes always show up at the last second." Seeing Inari's confused expression, he elaborated, "I promised you, didn't I? That I'd prove to you heroes exist." With that, he instructed Inari to take care of his mother and sped off towards the bridge, where he was sure his teammates were confronting Zabuza.

------

Naruto arrived to see the entire bridge engulfed in mist. Knowing what was going on already, Naruto decided to approach cautiously, so as to gather information first before helping. He managed to piece together that Kakashi was fighting Zabuza while Tazuna was hiding underneath the tree. He noticed the large dome comprised of floating slabs of ice and assumed Shino and Akiko were inside. Feeling that the genin would need more help than the Jounin, Naruto positioned himself on top of the dome and waited for an attack of opportunity to present itself, hopefully before the situation deteriorated too badly.

The two genin were having extreme trouble with the hunter Nin they were facing. At first, they had the advantage, able to pin Haku to the side rails of the bridge twice, and managing to land several solid punches and kicks. However, as soon as the Nin summoned his ice mirrors, everything got shot to hell in a hand basket. The hunter Nin grew unnaturally fast, so much so that none of the two were able to detect him. Shino was able to dodge many of the needles thrown by throwing a cloud of bugs over himself, but his swarm was taking heavy losses and he would have to withdraw them soon for fear of losing his entire colony.

Akiko was faring much worse. Her body was fairly covered with needles, and although she managed to deflect a few of her own, the pain was getting to her and she was starting to bleed out. Akiko's vision was blurry and she could feel that her body would give out at any minute.

Fortunately for them, the hunter Nin had stopped to recover some of his needles, and they were able to plan. Deciding that the only way out of this was to seek the help of their teacher, they decided to send a marked kunai out of the dome and towards Kakashi's fight. However, they were not foolish enough to think that the Nin would not notice or not care, and so Shino lodged some of his remaining kikai into the kunai and let it fly.

Their prediction was true, however, as the Haku quickly noticed the kunai and attempted to stop it. He succeeded, but was rewarded with a fistful of kikai sucking out his chakra. Haku fell out of his mirrors, trying to swat the bugs off, and that's when Naruto attacked.

The blonde genin jumped down and promptly kicked Haku a couple feet to the side, yelling, "That's for hurting my friends, you bastard!"

The other two stared in shock and happiness at seeing their teammate. "Naruto, you're here!" Akiko cried out in relief.

Naruto turned around with a smile wide on his face, "The hero always comes in at the last second."

* * *

All right, drill as usual. Read and review, and then get Luvs. 


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